Subliminal Bananas for a Better Finale

"Nothing is smarter, nothing more pleasing, than a fruit finale to a meal."

Clearly he agrees.

She, however, cannot bring herself to meet his gaze:

This disquiets me, and makes me wonder if an even more pleasing finale might be needed.

Might the downturned bananas be a subliminal message for hubby?

Viva le Hot Dog!

Cookbook Love loves hot dogs!

And so does Cutco. And so does their illustrator, Frank Marcello. Just look at this fine fellow fencing, confident in his meat selection:

Why he's parried and thrust her burger nearly down to the handle!

Consider his form. And his jaunty shirt. Wish I could find curtains in that fabric.

But on to the recipe:

Check out the loooong arm of this Pisan!

I like that Frank Marcello put the leaning tower in the picture, as a play on "pizza". But he must not have read the recipe because it includes no bun, and his illustration includes no bacon.

Which is a major violation: BACON MUST BE RESPECTED.

Or maybe he was on to something. After all, putting the canino in a bun after grilling would make it more pizza-like.

I guess Frank knows franks.

Pies of Intimidating Beauty

In the spring I wrote a HuffPost Food piece titled 8 Crusts to Cure Your Fear of Pie-ing because so many of us are intimidated by pie crust. My premise is that pretty doesn't really matter. But then I saw these.

Sigh. Now I'm intimidated again.

Toast! Photocopy style.

Check out this darling, yellow and yellowing paperback for kids, published by...

XEROX?

I love finding children's cookbooks because they take me back to my own childhood, and the books given to me as gifts. The ones I had contained recipes for things like handmade soft pretzels, ants on a log, and tuna boats.

This little guy came out a little later than the ones in my mom's kitchen. Look at the cuteness:

It is copyrighted 1972, and was given as a gift three years later.

Instead of handmade pretzels, ants on a log, and tuna boats, this book contains deviled eggs, pomanders, and Miracle Pie.

More importantly, it has multiple recipes for toast. Three to be exact, and none of them made in the toaster. Here are two, in case you are hungry. Something sweet, and something savory.

Now I'm off to Google why XEROX published a cookbook for kids.

Coffee 2 ways

Here are two recipes for coffee from Meals for Small Families. The second one is both fascinating and revolting.

Coffee

For 1 person:

2 tablespoonfuls ground coffee

1 cup cold water

Mix the coffee and water together, cover closely and let stand all night. In the morning bring this to a boil and serve. When poured carefully it will be as clear as amber.

For a small pot:

1 cup ground coffee

1 egg and shell

This amount will make 3 pots for 3 successive mornings, by using one third and keeping the remainder closely covered. Take one-third of the mixture (the egg and coffee mixed together) and add 1/3 cup of water, mixing well; pour into coffee pot and add 1 pint boiling water. Let the coffee boil 3 minutes. Remove from fire and keep hot on stove for 5 minutes (not boiling) and serve.

Canning as art?

Canning as art form! And I can't manage to make a batch of refrigerator pickles.